Chapter 1-Go to the Light
Deep in the Yun Yue Plateau in southwest Zhongzhou State, amid vast stretches of primeval forest, was a campsite you can never find on map.
The campsite was basically built inside the primeval forest. Apart from the trees that sheltered people from the wind and rain, there were only a few undulating mountains around the campsite.
The borderline between Zhongzhou State and Annan State lay less than two kilometers away from the main entrance of the campsite. It was somewhere extremely remote that few people ever set their foot on it. Not even birds would shit there.
The campsite was pretty small. There were only about a dozen thatched huts for people to live in and a small but clean open-air training ground.
A watchtower about 10-meter-high and a flagpole, on top of which the Star Flag of Zhongzhou State fluttering in the air, stood desolately in the middle of the training ground. This was the highest point of the campsite. But in such an environment, the view from the watchtower was merely a little better than from the ground. However, it was better than nothing.
The sun went down.
The setting sun drew back its last rays from the training ground, which then fell into the dusk.
A gust of wind followed the nightfall.
The star flag on the pole was trembling in the violent currents. The wind blew clouds away. All this made the whole campsite look like a bleak but vivid picture.
A group of soldiers in military uniforms saluted silently under the Star Flag, looking solemn and respectful.
Among these 40 or 50 soldiers, the chief was a middle-aged man, about 50 years old. His appearance and figure looked common. But the pair of penetrating eyes on his face were very impressive. He were in military uniform. Nothing in his uniform could show his rank. However, obviously he was commanding this squad.
The middle-aged man looked up at the fluttering Star Flag above for a long time before he put down his hand.
"Old Li, go back with me."
The middle-aged man put down his arm and looked at an old man beside him. He said so sincerely as if he was begging the old man, "After years of hard work and valuable service at the border, everyone has noticed that it is time for you to retire and enjoy the rest of your life. The tough environment here is no good for your health."
The neatly combed hair of the old man is grey, but his posture was perfectly straight. Unlike the middle-aged man, he wore a military rank, Lieutenant Colonel. It’s not low. Anyhow, considering his age, it’s not very impressive either.
Upon hearing the middle-aged man's words, the old man narrowed his somewhat misty eyes, shook his head with a smile and said with a cracked voice, "Soldiers should die on the battlefield. How can I go back to enjoy the easy and carefree life and wait for death? Dongsheng, I appreciate your kindness, but I won't go back. Old as I am, I can still carry a gun and do something for my country a few more years. After staying here for so long, I will not get used to the easy life even if I go back."
The middle-aged man named Dongsheng had a look of bitterness. He opened his mouth and said worriedly, "Old Li, But your health... does not allow you to stay here anymore."
"I know my health condition."
The old Lieutenant Colonel sounded indifferent and looked determined. "Although I can't live too long, I can still carry a gun for years. Dongsheng, I’ve made up my mind. No further discussion about this topic is needed."
He paused for a while and suddenly laughed at himself, "Of course, if you come here to arrest me today for Li Kuangtu, my son, who had betrayed our country years ago. I, Li Honghe, am ready to plead guilty and go with you right now. That brute betrayed our country and, as his father, I'm guilty as well. It is the father's fault to only feed his son without teaching him properly. I have nothing to explain for myself."
"Old Li!"
Ye Dongsheng's expression changed. He looked displeased and raised his tone of voice, saying angrily, "What are you talking about, old man? You are the hero of Zhongzhou State. Who dares to say that you are guilty? If anyone else dares to do so, I will be the first one to shoot him! For hundreds of years, the military law of Zhongzhou State has never indicated that one's crime will implicate others! He is a traitor, but it has nothing to do with you. It's not the same thing. If we don't trust you, how could we keep you at the border for 20 years?"
The old man had no expression on his face. He just looked up at the Star Flag overhead with his sad eyes.
Ye Dongsheng sighed slightly. He swallowed his pride and lowered his voice again, saying, "Old Li, the case of Kuangtu’s treason has been adjudicated and that was a judgement of that special time. There are a lot of details about the case still do not add up. From my personal standpoint, I do not believe Kuangtu would commit treason. Although 20 years have passed since then, chances are that we might reverse the conviction if we investigate it carefully. Old Li, we need you, our anchor, to return to Youzhou to be our consultant."
Li Honghe seemed to have been disheartened. He shook his head and replied in an indifferent tone, "Forget about it. After all these years, what's the point of reversing the verdict? Dongsheng, if you are not here to denounce me, then go back. This place is very suitable for me. I'm an old man on the verge of death. I surely will suffer a lot in a colorful world like Youzhou. Don't bring that forth any more."
Ye Dongsheng opened his mouth. He tried to say something but stopped on a second thought. What could he say since things had gone to this point?
"Old Li, I'll provide you with time to think about it and come back to visit you in a year. If you have any requirement, please don't hesitate to say. I'll do my best to help you."
Ye Dongsheng silenced himself for a while before he opened his mouth with a bitter smile.
Li Honghe just shook his head, showing that he had no demands.
Ye Dongsheng sighed deeply. He did not stay there any longer but directly strode to a helicopter that was stopping in front of the watchtower.
The rotor of the helicopter swirled and whipped up the dust.
While walking to the helicopter, Ye Dongsheng suddenly turned around and shouted out loud, "Old Li, would you like to come back to Youzhou with me if we could prove Kuangtu to be guiltless and wash off your shame?"
Dust rose beneath the rotor and made Li Honghe's expression undistinguishable. Li Honghe narrowed his eyes and said in a voice not too aloud but firm, "Dongsheng, I'm waiting for the good news."
Ye Dongsheng nodded and directly walked into the cabin.
The helicopter took off and flew higher and higher. Ye Dongsheng sat in a seat in the cabin and looked down over training ground that was becoming smaller and smaller, watching the old man who turned around and went up to the watchtower. He mumbled to himself, "What are you holding on to?"
At the same time.
On the top floor of the watchtower, a young man with his back to Li Honghe asked the same question as Li Honghe entered.
"What are you holding on to?"
"You don't understand."
Li Honghe looked at the young man standing at the window and answered kindly.
This was a lean young man in his twenties who could easily leave others a favorable impression at first sight. His good-looking face appeared to be a little pale due to perennial malnutrition. He was very gentle and his eyes were pretty clear. No one could see any sharpness, aloofness, or arrogance from him. He stood peacefully at the window of the upper space of the watchtower, looking at the helicopter flying farther and farther away, with an undisguised desire and longing in his clear eyes.
Gentle as jade, quiet and calm.
Nothing could be more apt to describe him than these words did.
"Why don't you just leave?"
Hearing the old man's answer, the young man finally turned around and added calmly, "Grandpa, this should be the fourth time someone asked you to leave here, right? Why don't we leave while we can?"
"We shouldn’t."
Li Honghe nodded his head and said in a deep voice.
"You are waiting for the highest bid?"
The young man asked as he raised his eyebrows slightly.
"This is an involuntary choice."
Li Honghe smiled bitterly and continued, "Tianlan, you do not understand. Only when you leave here and go into the outside world will you understand some of the things."
"Outside world."
Li Tianlan said these words quietly in his mind and then mocked himself, "Outside world?"
He had almost heard these two words since he was a child for countless times, but in fact, his world was nowhere except for the campsite in front of him. He did go out once more than a year ago, but only to a place even more isolated than here.
Outside world?
What was that?
He observed his surroundings silently. The top floor of the watchtower was just like a common room if not windows were equipped in all four sides for surveillance. The room was made of wood and it managed to shelter them from wind and rain by an outer layer of tarpaulin.
The interior of the room was poorly decorated. There was only one big bookshelf full of books that could make others feel intimidating. On either side of the bookshelf, there were two plank beds for people to have a rest. There were two desks on which writing brushes and Chinese art paper were placed not far away from the bookshelf. That was where the grandpa and grandchild practiced calligraphy in their daily life.
This was the world that Li Tianlan grew up in. He did not hate the current environment, but after going out once, he was more and more eager to go outside again and enjoy the scenery outside.
However, his grandpa had kept him in check all these years. Every time he asked to go outside, his grandpa would tell him that the right time was yet to come. He didn't know when would the right time come. Recently, however, he had become more and more impatient.
He took a deep breath, picked up a piece of white cloth, and wet it in water. Then, he walked to a plaque on the desk and wiped it silently.
This plaque was arguably the most valuable thing in the entire campsite. It was about two-meter-long and one-meter-wide and made from red sandalwood. It was a rarity even if it was presented in the top circle of Zhongzhou State. The two words on the plaque were written so naturally and smoothly that they looked like floating clouds and flowing water. They fully demonstrated the demeanor of great master.
Li family!
Li Tianlan looked at these two words silently and suddenly asked, "Did the man who just come here to say he could reverse the verdict for my father?"
"It's for my son, not your father. He won’t do it for your father."
Standing in front of the bookshelf and looking at the books on it, Li Honghe replied carelessly.
"Is there any difference?"
Li Tianlan raised his eyebrows again. He was gentle and frail-looking, but the action of him raising eyebrows made him look alive, with a sharp expression between his brows.
"Of course."
Li Honghe said calmly, "They don't know that I have a grandchild. If they know your existence... Hehe..."
Li Tianlan's expression became slightly stiff and he did not speak.
Li Honghe burst into laughter and kept saying, "I trained Ye Dongsheng personally in those days, so I know him well. He said he was worried about my health, and I guess he is telling the truth. It is estimated that he will send two private doctors to me within three days after his departure. He is kindhearted."
"So?"
Li Tianlan's heart instinctively beat more quickly. He didn't know what it meant, but he was very clear that if private doctors did come here, this campsite would be visited by outsiders for the first time over many years.
"So it's time for you to go outside. It's the right time."
Li Honghe smiled at his grandson with his gentle eyes, from which his heartfelt satisfaction and delight were revealed.
Li Tianlan's body shook obviously. He quickly looked back at Li Honghe.
Li Honghe pulled a book from the bookshelf and opened it. He took out an invitation and a card.
He then came to Li Tianlan and handed him the invitation and card, saying in a calm tone of voice, "You shall leave today."
Li Tianlan received the two items with hands shaking involuntarily. The invitation his grandpa handed to him almost attracted all his attention instantly.
The whole invitation was jet-black except for the silver Star Flag and the four small silver characters beneath the flag that were engraved on its cover.
Sky Academy.
There were two academies in Zhongzhou State that were rarely known by people but were extremely famous in certain circles.
One was called Deep-sea Academy, which was located in Youzhou.
And the other one was called Sky Academy, which was located in Huating.
They were the top two Special Warfare Academies in Zhongzhou State.
They were the gathering places for young elites in Zhongzhou State.
The best Special Warfare Members, the picked spies, and the most promising Martial Artists gathered together and competed with each other.
The two Special Warfare Academies did not have a long history. However, they had cultivated quite a lot good generals within just a few decades. And this was no doubt a glory.
Over the course of several decades, the two Special Warfare Academies had produced hundreds of generals, numerous agents, as well as several special warfare magnates.
Under the premise of serving the country, the outstanding graduates of each session from both the Sky Academy and the Deep-sea Academy had a considerable autonomous right. They could independently choose to enter various Special Warfare Departments in Zhongzhou State and would get special trainings.
For anyone with strength, ambition, but without backer, the admission letter from either the Deep-sea Academy or the Sky Academy was like a road to heaven!
And the jet-black invitation in Li Tianlan's hand was precisely the admission letter from the Sky Academy.
Li Tianlan had a tidal surge of emotions. He was excited not only about the admission letter but also because his father who had graduated from the Sky Academy and finished his study with the highest marks.
Had he betrayed Zhongzhou State?
He had to find out the truth this time!
Li Honghe seemed to have figured out what was going on in Li Tianlan's mind. He said calmly, "Don't do whatever you shouldn't do. Don't be in a hurry to investigate your father's case this time out. It's useless. Your identity must be kept secret. Once others know that you are my grandson, you will only die faster. Of course, you need to reverse the verdict for your father, but you are not qualified to do that right now. At the very least, your achievements should not be inferior to your father's. Only in this way can you be qualified to conduct an investigation about this case."
Li Tianlan nodded his head in silence.
"Do you know why am I still here today?"
Li Honghe suddenly asked. He chuckled and said before his grandson could reply to him, "That's because I'm strong enough."
"Do you think it's a good thing to stay here, grandpa?"
Li Tianlan held the admission letter and could not help asking this question.
Li Honghe took a meaningful look at him and said calmly, "No, I don't think so. But there's something worse that you do not necessarily want to hear."
He shook his head and pointed at the card in Li Tianlan's hand, saying, "When you arrive at Huating, call this phone number and there will be someone to pick you up and arrange the admission for you.
Li Tianlan nodded and asked abruptly, "How about you, grandpa? You're not going to leave with me?"
"I'll be expecting you to pick me up."
Li Honghe smiled and took a step forward to arrange the clothes for his grandson. He added calmly, "Tianlan, there are things not as simple as you deem. You will know that after you get outside. I'm waiting for you to get stronger. I will leave this place when you are able to reverse the conviction for your father and wash off the Li family's shame."
After taking one step back, he looked at Li Tianlan with a smile and continued, "I can afford to wait a few years."
Li Tianlan clenched the admission letter in his hand with a determined look.
For the entire Zhongzhou State, his grandfather was a well-deserved meritorious soldier. Thus, he was very clear that his grandpa's past achievements enabled him to leave this forest with the admission letter from the Sky Academy to vie for the opportunity to reverse the verdict for his father and wash off the Li family's shame. However, the crime his father had committed blocked all the possibility of backing off.
He could only advance but could never retreat on this trip.
He would come to a dead end if he retreat!
"I'm going now."
Li Tianlan put away the admission letter and said straightforwardly.
Li Honghe nodded slightly and suddenly said in a soft voice, "In fact, you still have someone to assist you. By the way, that man is quite powerful."
"I myself arranged an engagement for you the year you were born. You don't have to know who your fiancée is. This marriage is still up in the air and it depends on your performance. That old guy is relatively realistic. If you act like a good-for-nothing, he definitely won't marry you to his granddaughter; but if you behave well, he will send someone to you. At that time, whether this marriage is valid will be up to you."
Li Tianlan nodded silently. He took one step back, knelt down, and kowtowed to the old man three times.
Li Honghe stood where he was without giving any response.
Li Tianlan stood up silently and went straight down the watchtower.
Outside the window, the sun had already disappear completely and darkness enveloped the entire forest.
On a windy but moonless night, Li Tianlan passed through the forest expressionlessly and went further and further.
The old man had been standing by the window and looking at Li Tianlan's back until he completely gone from his sight. He slowly turned around and came to his desk. Then, he picked up his writing brush and ground the ink stick, planning to practice calligraphy.
Neither the grandfather nor the grandson was good at calligraphy, but practicing calligraphy could cultivate their moral character. Therefore, they had kept in practicing calligraphy over the years.
However, Li Honghe failed to write any word after a long while this time. He did not sigh and put down his writing brush until the ink had soaked through the Chinese art paper. He then walked toward Li Tianlan's desk.
The ink marks on Li Tianlan's writing on the desk were already dry. The combination of black and white was especially dazzling.
Li Honghe stared at the Chinese art paper and his pupils suddenly contracted.
Unlike the small characters that Li Tianlan usually wrote, there was only one big word on the thin Chinese art paper. It was written indulgently, revealing an intensive sense of violence:
Kill!
Li Honghe suddenly looked back.
The figure of Li Tianlan had long disappeared, leaving only the endless dark night that diffused the forest like the coldness of a harsh winter.
Chapter 2-Come from the Darkness
In Zhongzhou State, as a city that was the second only to the capital Youzhou in importance, every corner of Huating was full of busy scenes during a whole day.
This was especially true at the station.
With the steady rise of the status of Zhongzhou State in the world, Huating's development seemed to have reached the climax. More and more people began to seek opportunities in this bustling and prosperous city. The station was filled with people hurrying to and fro. Crowds of people could be seen in every corner of the station.
So many people!
This was Li Tianlan's first impression of Huating.
With a paper bag in his hand, he wore clothes of coarse cloth and followed the crowd out of the station, feeling like a fish out of water from head to toe.
Too many people hurried to and fro. And that was his only feeling.
This city seemed to radiate an invisible pressure at any moment and everyone around him was walking in a hurry. This super-fast pace was like a terrible infectious disease which could easily infect everyone. Thus, everybody did things faster and faster, as if they wanted to exhaust themselves.
Li Tianlan's mind settled as still water. Since he was new to the city, it would not be so fast for him to be assimilated by the pace of this city. He walked out of the station and took a sip of the mineral water that cost him one yuan. Then he stood still and waited for someone else to pick him up calmly.
While he was on his way an hour earlier, he pulled out the card from the paper bag and dialed the number on it.
He was a country bumpkin who newly went out of the primeval forest. The mobile phone he used to dial the number was borrowed from a friendly-looking old woman. The phone was answered by a woman who called herself Flaming Fire with a voice that seemed young and chilly. It was a very strange name which was opposite to the cold tone of her voice. The two agreed to meet at the exit of the station in one hour. Li Tianlan guessed that the woman should have arrived here by now.
He suddenly chuckled.
Flaming Fire.
To him, this name meant something.
A young girl who happened to walk past him heard his laughter. She took a few steps away from him subconsciously and slightly frowned at him with an undisguised dislike in her eyes.
Li Tianlan was not ugly, but he was by no means handsome. At this moment, dressed in coarse clothes, he was carrying a bottle of mineral water and grasping a paper bag with apparently no money in it. All this made him look like an uncultivated bumpkin. Nobody would have a good mood if such a person giggled at them for no reason.
The plain-looking young girl stared at Li Tianlan before she turned around to leave.
Li Tianlan took a sip of water and laughed it off.
For this city, he was a real bumpkin because he had spent most of his life in the primeval forest. However, he didn't feel ashamed. Having a grandfather whose life was filled with ups and downs made the 19 years of his life rough and full. Deep inside his heart, Li Tianlan never felt inferior to his peers for he had possessed an arguably perfect starting point now. He firmly believed that he could possess whatever others had sooner or later if he was given enough time.
And it would not take long.
A brand new black Audi pulled slowly into the station and finally arrived at the exit. It stopped in front of Li Tianlan.
When the door on the side of the driver's seat was opened, a beautiful woman with a cold face got out of the car and walked straight toward Li Tianlan. She said expressionlessly, "Are you Mr Li? I'm Flaming Fire."
"My name is Li Tianlan."
Li Tianlan smiled and observed the woman in front of him carefully.
This pretty woman was in her thirties and was less than 1.7 meters tall. She wore no make-up and gave others a feeling of cleanness and agility. The only pity was that her expression was so cold that it chilled the heart of anyone who looked at her. If her expression could be a little more relaxed, it would absolutely not be difficult for her to attract the attention of males when walking in the street.
The nearby pedestrians also began to look this way, intentionally or unintentionally. Although Flaming Fire's temperament chilled them, anyway, she was a beauty. When such a beauty and a famous car suddenly appeared in front of a silly-looking bumpkin, all this looked really incongruous. And that was why these pedestrians would like to pay more attention to them.
Flaming Fire turned a blind eye to the strange lines of sight around her. After confirming Li Tianlan's identity, she nodded and said, "The boss is here to pick you up. Get on the car."
Just as she finished speaking, there came a small noise behind her.
Li Tianlan saw the rear door of the Audi was opened slowly and a slim and tender leg wearing one black stiletto gently knocked on the ground.
A tall young figure alighted from the rear seat of the Audi and looked at Li Tianlan.
Li Tianlan only saw a pair of eyes as bright as the stars at this moment.
Flaming Fire turned around and looked at her boss who suddenly got out of the car with a surprised look on her face.
The young woman who voluntarily got off the car took two steps forward gently. Her stilettos stepped on the ground and the clear voice her shoes made knocked all men's hearts.
Li Tianlan looked at the young woman with a dull look in his eyes.
The woman, however, returned him a complicated look.
"I'm Weibai."
After a short silence, she reached out her hand and said, "Qin Weibai."
Flaming Fire looked more and more surprised. Throughout Huating, those who acquainted her mysterious boss were aware that her boss never shook hands with any male. Why would this bumpkin be treated so well? Did the sun rise in the west?
"Ah? Oh, I'm Li Tianlan."
Li Tianlan suddenly came to his senses and grasped Qin Weibai's hand. It was small and tender, just as the rare warm jade.
Li Tianlan was utterly confused and his face flushed with shyness.
In the 19 years of his life, he was most proud of his state of mind. Even judged by the exacting demands of his grandfather Li Honghe, it still deserved the remarks of "flawless and as calm as still water". But such a kind of state of mind was disturbed and surged with huge waves at this point.
Li Tianlan took a deep breath and finally fixed his eyes on Qin Weibai's face again.
The woman in front of him was the most perfect one he had ever seen in his life.
Slender and tall, she was at least 1.75 meters tall in her stockinged feet. Her height was enough to put most men to shame after she wore a pair of high-heeled shoes. Her exceedingly beautiful face was of sharp and delicate lines. The most striking parts of her body were her bright eyes. Calm and deep, they were able to make all men be willing to sink into them.
She stood quietly in front of Li Tianlan and allowed him to hold her small hand with a deadpan face.
She looked like the snow on the horizon.
And she also resembled the moon in the clouds.
She was ethereal as if she was a fairy who would ride the wind away the next second.
She remained aloof from the world and was indeed an unsurpassed beauty of her own generation.
Li Tianlan grasped her hand a little tighter subconsciously.
The look in Flaming Fire's eyes suddenly turned cold as she noticed this detail. She was emitting a murderous aura.
Li Tianlan was so perceptive that he was already aware of his gaffe before Flaming Fire spoke. He let go of Qin Weibai's hand and said, "Sorry, Boss Qin."
"It doesn't matter. You can directly call me Weibai in the future if you would like to."
Qin Weibai calmly withdrew her hand and said softly.
"Boss Qin, your name is not so good. You are not 'whitish'
English meaning of the name 'Weibai'
, you are rosy and graceful."
Li Tianlan forced himself to calm down and opened his mouth with a smile.
Flaming Fire turned her head away and resisted her urge to shout at this rude man. She was already extremely dissatisfied with the bumpkin who dared to take liberties with her boss.
Qin Weibai was in a trance. At this moment, even Li Tianlan could clearly feel that this perfect woman's mind seemed to have drifted somewhere else. But she soon came to her senses and chuckled, "Let's get in the car first."
Li Tianlan nodded his head. He got into the back row of the Audi with Qin Weibai in the envious eyes of the pedestrians around him.
Flaming Fire's face grew colder. She fired the engine and drove the car out of the station. The car soon drove down one of Huating's wide and tidy streets.
Qin Weibai picked up a heavy and thick notebook with a blue cover that looked old from her side as soon as she sat on the rear seat. She opened it gently and browsed it. Each piece of the already somewhat yellowing paper inside the notebook was dotted with handwriting. Qin Weibai closed the notebook and asked gently, "How about we go get something to eat?"
"Fine."
Li Tianlan directly nodded. He had only a few hundred yuan with him when he left Li's Village. When he had finished buying his ticket, he was left with only 3.5 yuan in his pocket. However, a portion of boxed lunch on the train would cost him fucking 50 yuan. He was really hungry now after having nothing for such a long time.
"We shall go to Yu's Restaurant to eat private home cuisine and I'll prepare some articles of daily use for you. I will take you to the Sky Academy to arrange your admission for you tomorrow. Tianlan, you can call me for anything in Huating and I'll try to solve it. My mobile phone will be available to you for 24 hours, and you can call me at any time."
Stroking the notebook in her hand and looking at Li Tianlan beside her, Qin Weibai said all this in a very earnest tone.
Li Tianlan's heart beat faster again as he smelled the faint fragrance came from the beauty beside him and looked at her dreamlike face. He forced himself to look away and nodded, saying, "I understand. Thank you, Mr Qin."
Qin Weibai frowned. Apparently, she was not satisfied with the address "Boss Qin", but she did not say much.
Li Tianlan fell into silence as well. He looked at the Huating's scenery outside the car window abstractedly.
He saw row upon row of tall buildings, cars moving to and fro, well-dressed pedestrians walking in the street, and the elderly holding the hands of children, laughing.
And the balmy sunshine that he rarely felt at the border.
Scenes of flourishing age continuously moved back as the car advanced forward.
Li Tianlan was absent-minded. His pale face looked perplexed and sad.
He again thought of his father who he had never seen.
His father was one of the top Special Warfare Members in Zhongzhou State 20 years ago. But at the climax of his career, he died in the most humiliating way on the border between Zhongzhou State and Annan State.
The charge was treason.
And the evidence of the charge was irrefutable.
If the most influential case of treason in recent years had not happened, his life would probably have been different since childhood.
He might have lived a good life as or even lived a better life than the people outside the car window.
He didn't find the tall buildings and the cars outside the window very inviting. But for the first time, the country bumpkin who had lived in a lush forest all year round felt that the place with sunshine and happy laughter was somewhere people should live.
The scenes of prosperity in front of his eyes were beautiful scenes he had never dreamed of.
Li Tianlan suddenly thought of the campsite at the border, the old soldiers who had banished themselves to the border with his grandfather for years after his father had committed treason, and Ye Dongsheng's words.
Ye Dongsheng said he could try his best to clear his father's name and reverse the verdict for him.
"If my father was really innocent, then who should be responsible for the treason case in those years?"
"Who killed my father?"
"Who are they? What on earth did they want to do? What did they do all this for?"
Li Tianlan didn't know who they were, but he was certain that if they did exist, they absolutely had the strength to stand on the top of this city, or even on the top of the entire Zhongzhou State.
The scene outside the window grew more prosperous.
Li Tianlan pursed his lips tightly. He was under pressure, but he was filled with an endless fighting will.
"What are you thinking about?"
Qin Weibai, who had been fixing her eyes on Li Tianlan next to her, suddenly asked.
"They shouldn't be living in that kind of place, really."
Li Tianlan muttered to himself as his eyes were fixed on everything outside the window.
A smile crept over Qin Weibai's cold and delicate face. She seemed to have understood what Li Tianlan meant but seemed not at the same time. "Some people say that Huating is a city of miracles that welcomes a brilliant century after every depressed millennium. Tianlan, how do you feel if I describe you with this comment?"
"Welcome a brilliant century after every depressed millennium..."
Li Tianlan looked at the scenery outside the window calmly and said with a smile, "How am I capable of doing so?"
Qin Weibai sighed gently next to him and opened the old, thick notebook in her hand subconsciously.
Hundreds of words appeared vividly on the yellowing paper and looked like someone's diary.
To be fair, the handwriting on the paper was not beautiful. However, it carried an air of overwhelming sharpness. Each stroke of the handwriting was written with a great force and each one of the words seemed like a sharp sword.
Qin Weibai fixed her eyes on the last two sentences of the diary and was lost in thought.
"Everything under the sun is fantastic and absurd. I come from the darkness with eternal majesty."
